Expandable box card holder

ABSTRACT

An assembly for holding a transaction card, such as a gift card, in a holder that folds closed for storage, transport and presentation for sale but that opens to form an appealing gift box to house a transaction card, thereby enhancing the perceived value and enjoyment of a transaction card as a gift.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the prior filed, co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 61/527,132, filed Aug. 25, 2011, incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to gift card holders and more particularly to expandable and collapsible box that lies in a collapsed disposition when on display for sale and which expands prior to use for gift giving.

Transaction cards, stored value cards, or gift cards, as they are commonly called based upon their intended use, have become popular gifts. Gift cards typically comprise a stored value card whereby a certain cash equivalent value is encoded upon a magnet strip applied to the surface of the card. This stored value may be determined by the vendor prior to packaging and display for sale or, more commonly, is selected at the point of sale by the purchaser and loaded by the cashier using a magnet card reader/writer. While popular, gift cards are typically provided with a generic and impersonal design, typically identifying the associated merchant for which the card may be used to purchase merchandise, and therefore are not personalized in view of the intended recipient.

Gift cards are often presented for sale on display racks in stores, each card or packet of cards being hung upon a display stand peg. A given area of a store will only support a certain number and size of display stands, given store traffic and other considerations, which makes allocation of display space an important marketing decision that may require selecting only certain high selling cards for display. Display of other items in the same store area will typically reduce the substantially finite space available for displaying gift cards and gift card packets.

In addition to the above considerations, gift card packets must fit within a set, allocated space in pre-existing displays. A gift card packet must not exceed 5.25″ tall and 4″ wide. These dimensions are an industry standard and are typically non-negotiable. In order to properly hang each gift card packet, the packet typically includes a J-hook hole (sombrero cut) with the exact dimensions of 1.875″ wide by 0.5″ high and be placed 0.1875″ from the top of the packet. Presently, the above requirements pertain to approximately 95% of all gift cards and gift card packets that are sold at retail.

What is needed, therefore, is a device that increases the value of a gift comprising a gift card, relative to the price paid by the purchaser, and increases the value and price relative to space for the merchant displaying and selling embodiments thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of this invention is to provide a holder for holding transaction cards, such as gift cards, in a manner that minimizes space occupied by the holder when it is on display for sale, but that opens to form an appealing gift package that enhances the perceived value and enjoyment of a gift comprising a gift card. An embodiment of a holder may include an insert, including means for receiving and retaining a transaction card thereupon, a box portion for receiving said insert, a header flap projecting upward from an upper margin of said box portion, and a plurality of bottom flaps for engagement with one another to form a bottom wall of said box portion when said box portion is in an open disposition.

Other advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of an expandable box card holder showing the box portion in a folded disposition and a gift card removably attached to the header flap for display.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the holder showing the header flap lifted to reveal the box insert.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the box portion in an expanded disposition.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the box portion.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the box portion.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the box portion showing the box insert positioned within the box portion.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the holder showing the header flap lifted to reveal the box insert.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the holder showing the box portion and header flap folded and in closed positions.

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the box portion.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the box portion showing the box insert positioned within the box portion.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of the insert prior to holder assembly.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of the insert prior to holder assembly.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of the holder prior to holder assembly.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of the insert prior to holder assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.

With reference to the figures, FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrate one or more embodiments of an expandable box card holder 100 for holding a transaction card such as a gift card 105. FIG. 1 is a front view of an expandable box card holder 100 showing the box portion 110 in a folded disposition and a gift card 105 removably attached to the header flap 115 for display at a point of sale. FIG. 2 is a front view of the holder 100 showing the header flap 115 lifted to reveal the box insert 120. FIG. 3 is a front view of the holder 100 showing the box portion 110 in an expanded disposition. The box portion 110 is held in the open or expanded disposition by pressing the insert 120 into the interior of the box portion 110 (see FIG. 6) so that the side edges of the insert 120 abut the interior faces of the box portion walls, forcing the walls to conform to a configuration of a cube.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the box portion 110 showing the four bottom flaps 125 a, 125 b, 125 c and 125 d engaged with one another to form a bottom wall of the box portion 110. FIG. 6 is a top view of the box portion 110 showing the box insert 120 positioned within the box portion 110. 

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:
 1. A card holder assembly comprising: an insert including means for receiving and retaining a transaction card thereupon, a box portion for receiving said insert, a header flap projecting from said box portion, and a plurality of bottom flaps for engagement with one another to form a bottom wall of said box portion when said box portion is in an open disposition. 